


we won (or we think we did)

by uforock



Series: runaway runaway [3]
Category: Count Duckula
Genre: Fluff, Insomnia, Living Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 09:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21354130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uforock/pseuds/uforock
Summary: “Did you sleep at all? You look like you’re about to fall over.” Duckula sat down at the table across from him, crossing his legs and propping his elbows on the table. Goosewing waved a hand, pouring the water over the teabag.“I’m perfectly fine,” he assured.-goosewings first night with duckula living on the airship with him
Relationships: Count Duckula/Dr. Von Goosewing
Series: runaway runaway [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1536979
Comments: 11
Kudos: 61





	we won (or we think we did)

Sure as anything, Goosewing was outside the castle at midnight, everything packed and ready to go. 

Duckula had tossed his suitcases through the open door of the ship one by one, trying to stay as silent as possible, despite the number of times he accidentally hit Goosewing with the bags as he threw them in.

When he moved to get into the ship himself, Goosewing panicked for a moment because the only thing he could think was  _ what if I let him fall over the edge right now? _

He could do it. It would be so quick and easy and Duckula probably wouldn’t survive it. 

He could do it. It would be  _ so _ easy to do it, hardly any effort on his part at all. In fact, it would take  _ more _ effort  _ not  _ to do it! His thoughts raced as he watched Duckula gauge the distance between the window and the ship, holding his thumb up and squinting.

“Goosewing,” Duckula reached his arm out to grip the edge of the window, one leg still in the window, his stupid cape caught on the edge. He frowned, climbing backwards and thinking before snapping his fingers. “I’m gonna jump through the window, but I’ll need you to catch me!”

“Wait, what?! Are you crazy?!” Goosewing cried, panic surging through him at the thought.

Duckula ignored him, backing up further and getting into a running position. “Here I go!”

“No! Don’t-!”

But it was too late, and Duckula was jumping towards him, and every thought in his mind went quiet other than  _ I need to catch him _ .

So he did.

He caught Duckula, reaching both arms out and wrapping them tight around Duckula’s chest, gripping the fabric of his shirt and backing up, sweeping him off the ground and back away to safety.

Duckula tumbled into Goosewings arms, clinging to him like a lifeline, marking that as their first choice after leaving their old lives behind. (Duckula putting his trust in Goosewing, and Goosewing choosing to maintain that trust.)

Goosewing took slow, deep breaths, and Duckula could feel how hard and fast his heart was pounding. 

“Don’t you  _ ever  _ scare me like that again,” Goosewing gripped his shoulders, shaking him slightly. Duckula had this dumb, exhausted, giddy grin on his face that made Goosewing feel odd.

“I’m fine!” he laughed, his head falling to one side. “I  _ knew  _ you’d catch me.”

Goosewing stared at him for a long moment before pulling back and standing up, dusting himself off and coughing into his fist.

“Right, of course, of course…”

Duckula looked up at him with a frown, dusting himself off.

-

They resolved to unpack everything in the morning, and to sleep for now. Duckula insisted on taking the couch, not wanting to kick Goosewing out of his own room. Goosewing, who had back problems on occasion as it was, didn’t argue.

When Duckula woke up the following morning, it was to the hiss of a kettle instead of the pounding of Nanny at his door, and he almost thought he was dreaming.

He got up, his blanket wrapped around his shoulders, following the sounds to the small kitchen. Goosewing was leaning with his elbows on the counter, face in his hands while the kettle cooled for a moment. 

“Mornin’ sleeping beauty,” Duckula yawned, stretching out and rubbing his eyes. Goosewing looked up, blinking rapidly and looking around.

“...Me?”

“Unless there’s a ghost in here I don’t know about,” Duckula rolled his eyes with an unmistakably fond smile that left Goosewing reeling a little.

“Oh. Um, good morning! Do you drink coffee or tea?”

“Tea, please. Coffee makes me sick to my stomach,” he confessed, crossing his arms. Goosewing nodded, pushing his glasses up and scanning the kitchen for a teabag and some mugs, setting them on the table with shaky hands.

“Did you sleep at  _ all _ ? You look like you’re about to fall over.” Duckula sat down at the table across from him, crossing his legs and propping his elbows on the table. Goosewing waved a hand, pouring the water over the teabag.

“I’m perfectly fine,” he assured.

“Really? Cuz you’re missing the cup by a good few inches, there, doc.”

Goosewing blinked, squinting for a moment, before realizing he was, in fact, spilling near-boiling water all over the table and very clearly  _ not _ into the mug. He flinched and pulled the pot back, staring at the pool of water with a defeated sigh. 

“...No, I didn’t sleep.”

“Yeah, no kiddin’,” Duckula laughed, getting up and getting a towel. He started cleaning up the water, simply laying the towel down on top of the table. “Do you always have trouble sleeping, or was it just tonight?”

Goosewing shrugged, helping pat the towel down. He didn’t want to say that he couldn’t sleep because he couldn’t stop peeking into the living room, sparing glances at Duckula as he slept. He didn’t want to face the fact that he didn’t know whos safety he was worried for. “Only a few nights a week. It’s nothing that I cannot handle.”

Duckula squinted at him, noticing the bags under his eyes and the way his breathing stutter every few breaths. He was close to real exhaustion, Duckula could tell.

“Go lay down,” Duckula shoved him away from the table, wedging himself in between them. 

“I’m fine!” Goosewing crossed his arms, pouting. Duckula shook his head and gently kicked Goosewing’s leg, frowning at the way he swayed.

“You haven’t slept in at  _ least _ two days! You need to rest, you loon!” Duckula took the towel and draped it over a chair to dry. He took Goosewing by the hands in a way that left him quiet and wide-eyed. “I’m taking you to the couch, and we’re going to sit and watch a movie or something until  _ you _ fall asleep.”

Goosewing blinked quickly and shook his head. “That… is not going to work! I cannot fall asleep unless I do so while working. I’ve… tried it, in the past.”

Duckula was walking slowly backwards, leading him into the living area of the ship, and Goosewing was vaguely aware of the fact that he was following. “Well, if I’m wrong, you wouldn’t have lost anything. Why not let me try it, at least?”

“...I-...” he swallowed nervously, wringing his hands together. “I suppose… it couldn’t do any harm to  _ try _ and get some rest.”

Duckula gave that self-satisfied  _ that’s what I thought _ smirk of his. “Good, because a sleep deprived you messing around in the lab is a public health and safety risk.”

Before he could protest, he was pushed down on the couch where Duckula’s blanket and a few pillows had been thrown from the night before. They only had the one bed, after all. It wasn’t like they were going to  _ share  _ it.

Duckula set the pillow on his lap and patted it. “C’mon, lay down. Nanny used to do this for me when I would get into one of my insom- insomni- when I couldn’t sleep as a kid.”

Goosewing shifted apprehensively, but laid down, propping his head on the pillow, twisting and turning and trying to get comfortable. Duckula’s hands hovered over him as he finally stilled, flat on his back, looking up at him.

Duckula had the strangest expression on his face, staring at Goosewing like he was looking for something. 

Goosewing started to say something, falling silent when Duckula leaned in, carefully removing his glasses, then his hat. 

Goosewing frowned and squinted up at him. “I can’t see.”

“You don’t  _ need _ to see if you’re asleep, Goosewing. Now, hush up.”

He turned on the TV, some game show coming on. Duckula set the remote down and his hand immediately fell onto Goosewing’s head, carding through his hair like it was meant to be there. 

Goosewing just tried ignoring it for a while, almost out of spite, the heavy pull of sleep simply not coming for him. He was physically tired, but his head was so full of an energy that refused to quiet down, like the roaring of an ocean that threatened to drown him.

Then Duckula’s voice cut through the static.

“What kinda music do you like?”

Goosewing looked up at him and frowned. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know what kind of music you like?”

“I don’t listen to a lot of music, really.”

Duckula pouted, rolling his eyes. “I can’t imagine living like that. Music is one of the only things I can look forward to.”

“How so?” Goosewing shifted, moving his arms underneath his head so he could better look at Duckula as he talked.

“Well, music, it’s uh… well, it just feels good to sing. You can do it alone, and its a way to get your feelings out, or you can do it with other people!” He smiled, moving his hands as he spoke. “A few years ago I snuck out and went to a bar and the  _ entire _ place was- everyone was singing an old drinking song, all together. Music can do that!”

His eyes were practically sparkling as he talked, twisting Goosewing’s hair between his fingers with one hand while he gestured with the other. 

“Have you ever been to a concert?”

Goosewing broke out of the haze that Duckula’s words had lulled him into. He blinked.

“...No, I don’t believe that I have.”

Duckula didn’t even notice the distant, almost sad look on his face, “Well I’ll have to take you to one once we get… somewhere. Say, where are we goin’ Goosie?”

“I’ve set the main destination to Paris,” Goosewing prattled off, “But we’re taking… a bit of a long way. I thought we could stop in Italy and re-stock on food and fuel.”

“Oh, Italy, I’ve always wanted to go to Italy! The food, the architecture, the fashion… could we stop in Milan?”

Goosewing felt himself blushing, unsure of why. “Well, that’s actually where I have our stop planned!”

Duckula gasped. “You’ve gotta be joking! Oh, this is a dream come true! We- oh- Goosewing, can we go to the opera?!”

Goosewing shrugged. “I suppose. I’ve never been,” he looked up at him, at the way he flapped his hands when he spoke. 

“Oh, we’ve simply got to! Then we can go get a nice ‘n fancy dinner together, oh, that’ll be fun! What would you like to do while we’re out?”

“Me?” Goosewing looked up at him, brows furrowed.

“Well, yeah, of course! There’s gotta be some museums or something you’d like to check out!”

Goosewing thought for a moment, frowning. “I…” 

Nothing was coming to mind.

“I don’t know. There… are some castles in the area,” he tried, leading into the statement as thought it was a question.

“We can tour a few, then! I bet I can sneak us into the back areas of one of them and we can do some  _ real _ exploring,” Duckula grinned. Goosewing laughed, rolling his eyes, and Duckula’s hand went still in his hair.

When Goosewing quieted down, he looked up to see Duckula staring down at him with wide eyes, a barely-restrained smile on his face.

“...What is that  _ look  _ for?”

Duckula blinked and looked away, going back to playing with his hair.

“You… I don’t get to hear you laugh very often. It’s nice.  _ Pretty _ .”

His words, combined with the feeling of his hands in his hair and- it all was too much, the feelings in his chest threatening to spill over.

“Oh,” he managed, clamping his mouth shut and looking up at the ceiling.

They both fell into a comfortable silence again, watching the show that was on the tv with a distant apathy. 

Eventually, it rolled into commercials, and Goosewing’s attention was lost. He rolled over just slightly, looking at Duckula’s hand, the fine details of it, taking it between his own, slightly larger ones.

“...I’m tired, Duckula.”

Duckula’s hand ever so gently cupped his cheek, his thumb moving across the edge of his beak in a way that made his head feel fuzzy and warm. 

“I… can imagine,” he whispered back. Goosewing could feel that slow, slow heartbeat in his former enemy’s chest, like a drum.

“I think,” he leaned into his palm, eyes falling shut, finally, “that I might have been tired for a long, long time.”

The audio from the TV was nothing more than a faint buzz now, as distant as the rumble of the engines or the thoughts that were normally racing in Goosewing’s head. 

“We… we can rest now. Both of us,” Duckula assured, and against all odds, Goosewing believed him.

So he rested, wrapped in safety and blankets and gentle hands, hopeful for what tomorrow might bring.

**Author's Note:**

> please comment if you liked this!!! im having fun writing it : )


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